queer short cuts is a biweekly newsletter where i share queer & trans short film recommendations. i’m featuring some of my favorite films on tumblr because why not
palestine | 7 minutes | 2010 | experimental short film
audio in arabic; english subtitles embedded
houria | حـ(و)ـرية, an experimental film directed by raafat hattab, intercuts between a violinist (boodi el esawi) playing on a beach at manshiye who is joined unexpectedly by a mermaid (played by raafat hattab himself), a person getting their chest tattooed, and an interview with hattab’s grandmother, yousra, talking about her parents’ flight from their home in jamaseen al-garbi when she was a baby, during the 1948 nakba (“catastrophe”), during which thousands of palestinians were killed and an estimated 700,000 were displaced because of Israeli ethnic cleansing. The gender fluidity of hattab’s mermaid, the permanence of the tattoo, and the impermanence of palestinian life and homeland in yousra’s story come together to illustrate the paradoxes and grief of dislocation that palestinians face daily.
- deepa's full review, including content notes at the end
watch on youtube, and learn more about creator raafat hattab, who is a queer palestinian interdisciplinary artist based in tel aviv, at his website
the best actor of the modern era exists in Thailand and his name is First Kanaphan. does everyone involved in bringing this scene to life know that they created a masterpiece????
as my friend @fulltimehabibti said, First Kanaphan as Akk in The Eclipse is the most realistic and grounded depiction of internalized homophobia. its not over the top or dramatically aggressive - its real, its insidious, its constant, its walking on eggshells every second of your life while slowly, slowly sinking under the weight of omnipotent dread. every minute part of his performance is pitch perfect - his anxious and stiff body language, his shaken voice, the palpable fear in his eyes, and the moments his body lets down its guard long enough to be touched and cared for. i'm very thankful for this performance.
queer short cuts is a biweekly newsletter where i share queer & trans short film recommendations; each set of films is themed and comes out to no more than one hour cumulatively. content notes are included at the end of each post. you can also check out the full spreadsheet of films i've recommended.
this week, i am recommending short films created by or about queer palestinians. and i wish it were a given that i could write this week’s newsletter without first having to explain why it’s necessary to support palestinian liberation. but i’m seeing some of the worst misinformation and suppression of pro-palestinian speech, and the worst dehumanization of palestinian people, that i have seen in my entire life. if you feel unequivocal of your support for palestine, then you can skip down to the second section in the link where i talk about films, but if you are on the fence in any way, please do read the whole intro.
check out the film recs
and along with watching this week’s films, please do what you can to fight for palestinian freedom:
donate, if you have the means, to organizations working on the ground in occupied palestine, like baitulmaal, medical aid for palestine, palestine children’s relief fund, and doctors without borders
contact your local leaders to demand support for palestine – people in the u.s. can send emails and/or make calls to your legislators, and people in the u.s., u.k., and canada can use these templates created by palestinian organizers to write to politicians, universities, news outlets, businesses, and more
learn more about the fight for palestinian liberation through decolonize palestine, the palestine resource library, coverage at jadaliyya, and free e-books offered by haymarket books, and about jewish support for palestinians and opposition to zionism at jewish currents and jewish voices for peace
uplift palestinian voices and combat misinformation you’re seeing and hearing on social media or in your communities